


Shattered

by hanekoma



Series: World's End [5]
Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Zombies, M/M, Revenge/Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-24
Updated: 2012-04-24
Packaged: 2017-11-04 05:33:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/390318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanekoma/pseuds/hanekoma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are no "safe" days when living in a zombie apocalypse. Some days, that reminder comes in harsh ways.</p><p>(Triggers: Rape and Revenge/Murder.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shattered

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by cris-art.

Things had been going well. That is, as well as they could be during the destruction of the human race. The pair of them had gone through many trials and had their relationship tested just as many times. Even when it seemed like "the end," both of them pulled through and often came out stronger on the other side.

This was one of the so-called _good_ days. A stray zombie here or there, but nothing a quick jog couldn't shake. Other than those few patches, the pace they were taking was a lazy one. At one point, Teddy twined their fingers together. 

It was such an innocent and sweet gesture that warmed Billy's heart like no other. Perhaps they could forget about the chaos around them for a few minutes and pretend like they were out on a simple date. Before the zombies had come along, he'd never actually gotten the chance to go out on an actual date, so this was as close as he'd ever get.

The surrounding area was completely empty and Billy grinned as he circled in front of Teddy to stop him. Both of his arms wrapped around Teddy's neck and dragged him down into a nice and deep kiss. This was one of the reasons that living through the zombie apocalypse wasn't such a tragic or horrific thing. He had Teddy.

Billy felt a soft laugh against his lips before Teddy nudged at him. "C'mon, B. We should find some shelter before it gets too much later. Maybe find somewhere to bathe because I think I might be getting a little ripe after that last work out from that last encounter."

"Which encounter might that be?" Billy commented with a small grin as he pressed close to Teddy. Of course, he knew that Teddy was referring to the swarm of zombies they'd encountered the day before, but he could play coy and feign innocence. It made things more fun that way.

Letting out a small yelp, Billy swatted at Teddy's hand that just pinched him in the side. "You know exactly what encounter I meant." After Teddy got him straightened back out on the path they were on, their hands clasped one another's again and the resumed their walk.

Exiting the field, they entered a parking lot of a strip mall. An abandoned game store sharing space with a toy store... it brought back memories of simpler times. These types of places used to be the ones that Billy would beeline for months ago, but now they were just useless reminders. What they were looking for was something more secure and perhaps supplies.

A sharp whistle drew their attention away from the path ahead to the store front of an almost collapsed building that once sported furniture. One man was climbing up off of a mattress that had been strewn on the ground, a second climbing off the arm of a couch, and the third pushing off a chair. Apparently it was easy-going in this area, too.

One of the men had a limp to him, Billy noted as the trio approached. "Hey, do you guys mind if we tag along for a while? At least until we can find some proper weapons and supplies. Our buddy here got an injury, so we're a bit helpless right now."

The pair exchanged looks, a bit wary, but ultimately nodded and looked back at the trio. "Sure, but we can't help out too much. Our supplies are pretty limited. I'm sure you understand." Billy left the talking to Teddy in this case, drawing a bit closer to him. The gentle hand squeeze eased his worries a bit.

"Aw, thanks. We'll get outta your hair as soon as we can." One of the men — the one with the darkest hair — hooked his arm under his buddy's waist to ease the pressure on his injured leg and help him limp along.

"By the way, I'm Stephen, injured buddy here is Joe and our other pal is Rick." Honestly, Billy didn't really care what their names were, but he registered them into his memory anyhow. It was only polite instead of just calling out 'hey you' all the time.

Teddy had nodded. "I'm Teddy, this is Billy," and at his name, Teddy had motioned toward him. This was certainly a lot lighter of an introduction than normal with other travel companions. It was nice to know that it didn't seem like Teddy planned to keep them around for any length of time. Something just felt a bit off with the lot of them and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Silence settled between the five of them. This wasn't the pleasant and friendly silence that usually went on between Billy and Teddy, but a heavier one. Perhaps that was just his paranoia taking hold, but it felt like something darker was lingering. He was trying not to read too deeply into it, especially since Teddy didn't seem too concerned.

This area of the metropolitan section didn't seem to have much to offer, unless you were looking for a loan, some booze or maybe to pawn things off. Under normal circumstances, there would be no way Billy would be found in this type of area, but since everything fell apart, there were no areas that were too far off limits. Unless their population was strictly filled with zombies, of course.

A burnt down gas station with damaged pumps and a smashed car — just another reminder of things that were once 'needed' in their daily lives, but no longer seemed as important. (Or in their case, a rare commodity and something to draw unwanted attention from those living and dead.)

After a two and a half blocks of dead silence, one of the men _finally_ pointed to what seemed like an abandoned shopping center. "Think if we get that far, we'll be good," Joe stated, leaning heavy against his walking help. That meant once they were delivered, they'd be out of Teddy's hair, as well as his own.

While Billy just wanted to shove them out as quick as possible, it was better to keep on even terms with them and not start anything. Even so, their parting was quite curt due to the fact that he didn't want to linger longer than necessary.

Mild annoyance boiled up as one of them offered out his hand to shake theirs in thanks. Reluctantly, Billy pulled his hand away from Teddy's and the both of them shook hands with the other men. Now, hopefully, they could leave and be done with this trio. They could find their own way about and their own medical supplies, if they were lucky.

With a sigh of relief, Billy turned away with Teddy. Just as he was about to reach over to take Teddy's hand again, he saw him falling to his knees. Eyes went wide as the realization of what just happened settled in. There had been good reason why he had been paranoid and _this_ was it.

Immediately, he reached for his bag to get out any of the weapons inside. He didn't care what it was, but anything would work to fight back. But he was too late. The moment he began to turn with the gun drawing out of the bag, he was hit across the face with a 2x4 and he was knocked to the ground.

"We're going to have a lot of fun with you, pretty boy," Joe commented as he straightened out and let go of his friend. Not too surprising — the injury was a fake. Yep, they'd been had. Despite struggling against the man, he was unable to fight against Joe. Another few blows to the head rendered him unconscious.

\------

A sudden shock of water woke Billy up and he cried out. His whole body jerked to get up, but he was being held down. One of the men had his wrists, another his legs and the third was straddling his bare body while unfastening his pants. The sadistic smile that spread over the attacker's face made his stomach turn.

Each of their names rolled through his head, reminding him that they were _humans_ doing this, not just some faceless mob or twisted animals. But he refused to utter any of their names and tried to think of them as nothing more than sick creatures. Mentally cursing them with nothing more than, 'get off of me, you suck _bastard_ ,' or, 'keep your disgusting paws off me, _asshole_.'

Teddy. _Where was Teddy?_ Even in this situation, he had to make sure Teddy was okay. Diverting his eyes from the man on top of him, he scanned the area for his partner and saw him tied to the fence. Oh _god_.

Blood trailed down the side of Teddy's face, but he was very conscious. Both arms were tied high above his head to the point of strain. It was more than obvious that the rope was painfully tight and cutting off some circulation to his hands. No doubt there would be scars left behind. The position looked anything but comfortable. If only he could break free and get over there. But that was impossible.

When their eyes met, Billy could see the shame and pain in Teddy's eyes. It felt almost as if someone was tearing his heart out and if he knew it would help, he would have told Teddy he was going to be okay. No matter what they did, he still had Teddy. But how could he say that when he wasn't even sure if _he_ believed it?

That connection they had was quickly broken as one of the men jerked his head back. "Ah, ah, princess. Your Prince Charming won't be saving you from this." Every muscle tensed up when the man brought his lips down to whisper, "Let's make sure he enjoys the show, though."

Those words made his stomach sink. Perhaps it was something in those words that made him fully realize what was just about to occur and there was no possible escape from this situation. Memories of the bullies flooded his mind and as their hands ran over his body a small part of him wondered if, perhaps, the human race did deserve this destruction. If, during these horrible times, there were still people sick enough to prey on any kindness shown.

All thought ceased when he felt a sharp and intense pain that started at his butt and ran all the way up to the base of his neck. No matter how hard he tried to hold it back, Billy screamed out. The sound echoed off into the distance and he knew there would be no help. Hell, even a zombie would be great right about now.

It was almost as if someone was ripping his insides apart. Most likely, he was bleeding from the lack of preparation and there would be later risk of infection from whatever injury the three would cause him. If he and Teddy were even going to survive this encounter, of course.

Everything was blacking out. He could feel their hands, mouths, and breath all across his skin. That feeling made him so incredibly sick inside. There was a sting of bile in the back of his throat and he felt like vomiting. Yet, he barely managed to swallow before it was expelled. After all, food was a rare commodity these days and if he wanted to survive past this, he'd need all the food and water that was inside.

Right now, all Billy wanted was to completely focus on Teddy, but that look of pain, horror and helplessness that he held made it everything he was feeling that much worse. What he wanted was for Teddy to look into his eyes again. To connect with him. Even if he had to face those horrible feelings head-on, at least he would be able to let the rest of the world fade out.

But Teddy was looking at him everywhere except the face. Shame boiled in his chest as he watched tears stream down Teddy's face. This was getting to the other boy more than it was getting to him. If only he could touch and kiss the boy bound to the fence. Tell him they'd make it through this.

Fear and panic kept rising in him from the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions brewing inside. Nothing coherent. None of it made any sense. Some things irrational. Some things sane. At this point, it was hard to distinguish one thought from the next.

Pressure was building inside of Billy and he was having trouble focusing. He was biting down hard enough on his lower lip to draw blood. Even that wasn't enough to distract from the intense feeling of his insides being on fire and his skin burning.

At every intense sensation and new addition of pain, it became harder and harder to breathe. Billy's fingertips were starting to feel numb and his head felt dizzy. It felt like a severe sickness taking over his body until a particularly sharp pain tore through him. All his senses were robbed from him and his vision began to narrow. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness took over was that sick grin on Stephen's face.

\------

When he came to, his body was covered in semen, sweat and blood. It felt utterly _disgusting_. Bile rose faster than he could swallow and he began to choke on his own vomit before turning to his side. Billy's throat burned and a bitter taste filled his mouth as he heaved and coughed.

After all the contents of his stomach were completely expelled, he lifted his head to seek out Teddy. The other boy was still tied tight to the fence and there was no sign of the assailants anywhere. It could have been minutes or hours since they had left — he hadn't a clue.

"Te—" Billy tried to call out his name, but another wave of nausea took hold and he began gagging again, despite having nothing left. Opting not to attempt talking again, he began to drag himself over to Teddy. While he hadn't attempted walking, he didn't trust his legs to properly work.

Once he arrived at Teddy's side, he worked his way up to the rope. There wasn't anything to cut him free with, so it would have to be the hard way. From the tugging and pulling, Billy's fingers began to bleed and a few of his nails bent back and were about to break. He didn't care, though. All his focus was on freeing Teddy. Besides, the experience he'd just gone through was far more painful.

The struggle to get Teddy free felt like it took ages. Right when he finished, his body slumped against Teddy's as he felt quite weak with pain. Gently, Billy was guided to lean against the fence while Teddy pulled his sweatshirt off. Warmth surrounded him as it was put over his head and tugged down his body.

Looking up at Teddy, he saw all the anguish still set in his features. Every touch was soft, almost as if Teddy thought he would break. Billy didn't want to attempt talking again and all he could do was raise his hands to touch Teddy's face, leaving behind marks of blood.

Teddy took his hands and helped pull him up. It took every ounce of strength to remain standing, even with the support from Teddy. The pair of them sought out the nearest bathroom in silence and Teddy helped to ease Billy to a seated position on of the toilets.

Drippings sounds echoed through the bathroom from what was probably blood and semen falling from his body. With this thought, a shiver ran down his spine and he felt like heaving again. Billy crossed his arms over his legs and leaned forward. Pain ran through him at this shift, which caused his breathing to come out in short and sharp gasps.

"I have to find you a first aid kit. You should be safe in here, for now. They took all our supplies, so I'll also need to find you some new clothes. Don't move from here. I'll be back soon." The tone in Teddy's voice chilled Billy to the core. There was hardly any emotion in his words and it all seemed detached. If he wasn't in dire need of the items, he would protest to Teddy leaving him alone. Instead, he just nodded in silent agreement.

Being left alone right now made him feel even more vulnerable. It disgusted him that the zombies weren't the worst thing to encounter in this collapsing world. This world was fight or flight, but that didn't mean that those left had to turn on one another like this. Over and over, _How could this happen?_ echoed in his mind.

Time no longer mattered in this decaying world, but right now, Billy wanted nothing more than to have a watch or some sort of clock. He wished he had some way to keep track of how long Teddy was gone, but on the other hand, that might just drive him more mad while waiting.

Billy's fingers tightened onto the sweatshirt that Teddy had put on him to the point where his already damaged fingers began to throb. Slowly, he pulled his hands away to start to examine his hands and made a face at the damage there. Seeing the rope burn on his fingers, it dawned on him that Teddy's wrists had been bound with that very same material that caused these wounds.

Now the wait was even more excruciating, not knowing the extent of Teddy's injuries. All he could hope for was that when Teddy found whatever first aid he could, he would tend to his own wounds immediately.

Right about now, he wished he could pass out or sleep until Teddy's return, but he knew that he was too high strung from stress for resting and the pain wasn't extreme enough to slip into unconsciousness again. 

It felt as if time had stopped while he was waiting from how long things were dragging on. The longer it wore on, the more anxious he became until finally he heard the bathroom door open. There was a chance it wasn't Teddy, so he braced and hoped for the best.

Relief washed over Billy's features as Teddy came into view. That is, until he saw all the blood. Eyes went wide and his heart leapt into his throat as seeing this sight. "Wh-What happened?" he managed out as he stumbled off the toilet and feel into Teddy due to his still unstable legs. "Where are you hurt?"

The somber expression on Teddy's face as he looked away made Billy's heart now sink into the pit of his stomach. His eyes ran over Teddy's body and sought for any signs of injury of where all this blood could have come from. It was then that he realized that there were mainly only bruises and a few cuts. Plus a few fresh blisters that speckled Teddy's hands.

Shaky hands reached up to take Teddy's face in his hands as the pieces seemed to start falling into place. He couldn't be sure, but... "Teddy, talk to me." As he spoke, his voice cracked and he could hear the fear in his own voice.

Silence lingered between them as the words hung in the air. Even if Teddy was facing him, their eyes didn't meet. Teddy wouldn't allow for it. The shame he'd felt earlier began to resurface and part of him felt disgusted even touching Teddy like this. Did Teddy think he was damaged and dirty?

"The problem's been taken care of... We need to get you cleaned up and we should get out of here," Teddy finally spoke out. Compared to before, the chill in Teddy's voice had sounded warm and welcoming. Perhaps this is what absolute zero felt like.

That was confirmation of everything he'd thought. The blood wasn't Teddy's at all and the ones who had been the owners of it all were either dead or dying somewhere out there. Emotions were conflicting inside of him at these thoughts. On the one hand, part of him felt like those men deserved it, but on the other hand, he didn't want this to destroy Teddy. It was one thing to take a zombie's 'life' and another to kill a human.

Teddy shrugged the duffel bag off his shoulder and eased him back down onto the toilet seat. Sure, this wasn't the most sanitary place to be cleaning his wounds, but this was the best that they had. It was secure.

So many thoughts were rushing through his mind as Teddy took care of all of his injuries. The one thing he hoped above all was that none of this changed what was between them — that this wouldn't change who Teddy was. If that happened, it would really be the end of the world for him.


End file.
